Quite the encore, amirite? At the start of tonight’s tilt, Melo seemed to want nothing more than to rectify the advanced statistic-nullifying outing from last night in South Beach, in which he scored and attempted ZERO field goals in the paint or at the rim. That’s unreal. With the help of my internet Sancho Panzo, Herr Bryan Gibberman, we were able to locate a fitty-point night that was comparable, but none/nada/zilch layups? It still boggles the mind. Anyhoo, the early stages were filled with the bully-boy drives to the tin that have become the trademark of this newfangled “Melo at the Four” thing that we’ve all grown so fond of. But then, blammo. The no-hesitation mid-range shots started to rain down like so much manna from heaven and it was once again off to the uber-efficient races. Another 20+ point first half, 15 of the Knicks’ 21 in the 3rd quarter and a high-kneed Nowitzi stepback. After co-opting a mini dream shake not 24 hrs ago, I can’t wait to see what he’ll unveil next. The Iverson crossover? Kareem’s skyhook? At this point, like all converted zealots, I’ll believe anything is possible. The great thing about it is, it’s not like he’s forcing shots. For the most part, they’re decisive moves that come within the flow of the offense. And when he does get doubled, he’s finding the holes in the defense in a gloriously November-ish manner. Like Kenyon Martin stated, “He said it before the game. He said, ‘The torch is still lit.’ So you got to go with his word. I’ve seen it before. So I’m not surprised.”

‘Member this photo? When you start talking like a Game of Thrones character, you know we’re in for an evening of blood, gore, random nudity and a slew of direwolf pelts. So kewl.

Shump, I have a feeling you’ll be hearing a spiel similar to this from the guy in the world’s ugliest polka dot shirt, but if nothing else, when rotating off yet another botched switch, the one guy you cannot leave to idle by himself way out yonder in three-point territory is the Caucasian who resembles Ashtmatt Kutcherdamon. That’s not you still fretting about the condition of your knee or skittishness at playing small forward, that’s realizing that the Hawks have their very own, prettier, better moving Steve Novak and that the Derrrrrty South Novak was already torching your team. And that’s one to grow on!

“It was getting physical out there, starting to stiffen up. I’m not as mobile as I would like to be. Hopefully that starts to get better. It is the neck. It goes into my shoulder. That was the problem before. I really wasn’t able to lift my arms. I think it was just soreness coming back. I didn’t do anything for a few weeks except for get treatment. It’s my first time getting any contact. It was my first time running a couple days ago. It’s kind of expected. It’s just difficult for me to locate the ball as far as trying to look up whether it be rebounds, lobs, high passes. I’m just really stiff right now. I’m just not there yet.”

He didn’t log any serious PT, and I was about to rage, rage, against the dying of the Woodsonian light for having him in the floor throughout the 4th quarter, but that’s before we learned that… [SEE MARTIN, KENYON]

Maybe Felton should only play in the final quarter, like a hoops version of Mariano Rivera. For the first three folios, Ray brought out every hoary song-and-dance routine/bit head-to-desk-inducing slapstick that makes one dig up the Jeremy Lin photos we’ve all got tucked away in a dusty file somewhere, get nekkid and curl up in bed with them. He dribbled aimlessly into traffic, hoisted ill-advised alley-oop attempts, heaved fadeaway 20 footers and couldn’t identify Jeff Teague on the pick and roll with a nautical compass of exacting precision. When the clock ticked down to the 4th quarter, suddenly he was getting to rim at will, forcing turnovers and picking out many a wide-open shooter on the perimeter. Dynamite stuff. Why it takes him a full 36 minutes of play to unleash this beauteous, Cinderallic debutante when he’s spent the rest of the ball squatting in the corner like an inanimate pumpkin is the Lord’s own private mystery

Another James White-esque, starter-in-name-only performance from Prigs. He nailed a couple of open threes and tried to pester the Hawks’ ballhandlers, but not much came of it. Four shots notwithstanding, he looked oddly hesitant on offense

After the final buzzer sounded, we learned that Kenyon Martin left the game with knee soreness of some sort and it’s been, “Bothering him for a few days.” Oh goodie. George Santayana was an effing ‘Bocker backer, I just know it. Luckily, the crack investigative team at KnickerBlogger has unearthed video of the diagnostic device the Knicks’ Mengele-esque physicians utilize in lieu of an MRI.

Though he hit all of his heaves, you can’t help but tense up when you see an eager ballhandler staring down our mayonnaise-complexioned friend, since Steve’s foibles on the defensive end are known far and wide. Of course, the New Yorkers’ penchant for handing off an opponent with nary a provocation is known far-er and wide-er. This leads to some knee-slappingly jocular pairings. Tonight, it was watching our fair-haired boy try to matchup physically with Ivan Johnson. It didn’t lead to a disemboweling or even a GIF-worthy poster-ization, but seeing two such anatomically dissimilar humans is existentially jarring. One of those two gentlemen can/should be classified as a professional athlete. The other should be working as a GS-9 examiner in a Regional IRS office.

Not sure if anyone else has noticed this, but Kidd’s shot’s gone to the bow-wow’s of late. If you’d like some swell insight as to why this is so, check out noted wise wag Dylan Murphy’s outstanding forensic investigation here. In brief: His shooting form can be either dandy or godawful. But read the whole thing. Pretty please?

Evidently there’s an unwritten rule somewhere that states that there always has to be one Knickerbocker who can be clobbered without repercussion, let alone a blown whistle from the arbiters. For the last couple of games, it’s been our buddy Earl. Granted, scouting reports and SportVU player tracking systems and the interwebs mean that it was hardly a secret that J.R.’s whole joie de vivre has gone rimward and teams would/will adjust accordingly. But he’s getting spanked. It looked for a moment like that would lead to the return of so much bad J.R., but a slew of nifty buckets in the final quarter, including a glorious three off a kick out from Melo and punishing, punctuation mark dunk (similarly off a feed from a triple-teamed Bernard King Anthony left us with another plus .500 shooting line. And that off-balance, I-can’t-tell-wether-I’m-shooting-or-trying-to-Mike-Rice-the-ball-at-the-ref-but-it-banked-in-anyway shot in the first? That’s so J.R.Dear Disney execs. Please greenlight the sequel to That’s So Raven, That’s so J.R.! I’ll watch it every day and twice on Sunday, even if the material does get a little blue, if you catch my drift.

Five Things We Saw

Hey, ten straight! They dithered around with a Hawks team that struck me as oddly flat/bored, given the whole playoff seeding thing and gearing up for the gladiatorial struggles that are just around the bend. Then again, their so-called fans weren’t exactly in full-throated form either. It’s not just the “M-V-P” chants that rained down for Melo or the giddiness at the prospect of a Novakaine Discount Double Checking. They barely seemed to be paying attention. We’ve all made jokes about Atlanta’s fans not giving a crap, but this was startling and kid of sad/depressing. Maybe it was the disinterested audience, but the ‘Bockers started the game in a bit of a haze. Aside from Carmelo’s beastly dominance, not much was working on either end. The defense allowed Kyle Korver to do his best Mike Miller impression and if it weren’t for Josh Smith’s hack-a-Smoovery, they could very easily have found themselves facing a serious deficit. The dawdling and the dithering continued well into the 3rd quarter (Except for you, Melo. Like the one annoyingly smart kid in class, raising his hand ever higher to the sky with Martin Prince-like/Horshack-ian glee, you’re completely wrecking the bell curve. Pfft. Teacher’s pet…). Luckily, they toughened up down the stretch, using Melo primarily as a decoy and getting some movement back into what had been a fairly stagnant offense. Once Atlanta began coughing up the rock with regularity (some nifty helping defense and smart [as opposed to the idle, nonsensical kind that had run rampant prior] doubles aided greatly in this effort) they managed to build an insurmountable lead. The Emo-Hawks, though…it wasn’t fun watching them curl up in a ball, ad another photograph of their ex to their Instagram account, and die. It’s not an overly impressive win in and of itself, but I love, love, love the fact that instead of building a monstrous lead and, like the sands of an hourglass, watching it slowly trickle away, they’re making adjustments and putting teams away down the stretch. That’s a very, very good thing

When I was a wee laddie, I went to see a Knick game during the 1984-85 Season. I can’t remember who they were facing, but in general, I liked to arrive as early as possible, because back in the dizzle you could wander down to the court during warm ups and stand right under the basket, watching the team go through layup drills, shoot jumpers, joke around…the whole magilla. I haven’t arrived to a game early in eons but considering the somewhat elevated prices and fatter-walleted fan base that tends to occupy those seats (along with a far more Draconian, less-friendly crew of ushers, bent on serving our corporate overlords), I can’t imagine that’s still a thing that a kid could do nowadays. (And a candy bar was only a nickel! And we had to drag a block of ice eight miles through the snow up a mountain to get to school while wearing an onion ‘round our belts, which of course was the style of the day…and we liked it!)

This game, for whatever reason, Bernard wasn’t really participating in the warm ups, electing to lean against the stanchion, arms folded and more or less scowling at the rest of his court mates (including Ken “The Animal” Bannister, Pat “Short” Cummings, Bob Thornton…an eminently scowl-worthy motley crew). Still, I was gobsmacked. There was my hero, inches away, the most imposing — physically and otherwise — adult I’d ever seen in my life. Somehow, I mustered up the courage to walk up to him and ask for his autograph. And just like in that saccharine Mean Joe Greene/Pepsi spot from days gone bye, he turned and fixed his scowl upon me and I was petrified. I couldn’t tell whether he was going to bark, “Beat it, kid,” (or worse) or force me to go run drills alongside Darrell Walker because the latter just wasn’t cutting the mustard right about now. But he looked down, smiled, and took my proffered program and pen. I wanted to say something smart, to show Bernard that I wasn’t just any ordinary gawking fanboy, so I stammered, “You-you-you-you’re the greatest scorer the Knicks have ever had!”

Bernard cocked and eye at me, laughed and signed his name.

I may not have Spike’s Nike ads to show for it, or a cushy limo to ride around in while I regale you with tales of my favorite ‘Bocker, but I was there for a slew of his awe-inspiring efforts. I never thought I’d see a Knick like that again—a guy who you could just dump the ball into in the post and know…know in your heart of hearts that no matter what obstacles, no matter how many legions of defenders were thrown in his path, the ball was going through the hoop. For stretches this season, Melo’s proved me wrong. The last two nights, if you blinked, you could just make out the short shorts and Bill Cartwright’s loping gait and Kevin McHale, Bird, Parish and all the long-loathed Celtic demons shaking their heads in disbelief. I don’t know about y’all, but for me, the memories were so thick I had to wipe them from my eyes.

Just watch. Marv Albert and Butch Beard are calling the game. “Give it to B. Give it to B, they’re screaming.”

27 comments on “Knicks 95, Hawks 82”

Bucher: “I don’t know what meaning to place on it, but the 3 players who dribble the ball more than anyone in the league are
the Blazers’ Damian Lillard, the Clippers’ Chris Paul and the Hornets’ Greivis Vasquez. Or so a GM with access to such analytics tells me. He told me offhandedly, and wasn’t sure if Paul was second or fourth, but he was pretty certain those three at least were in the top four, although he couldn’t recall who the fourth might be. The greater point, for me, is that every time I learn about another statistic such as this one that I didn’t even know existed, it reinforces my belief in three things: one, that NBA teams are indeed collecting data on almost every aspect of the game; two, they’re utilizing that data not so much to gain competitive advantages but to accurately measure the true worth of players in dollars and efficiency; and, three, that the analytics utilized by teams, vs. the ones readily available to the public, are about as comparable as lunar modules are to wheelbarrows. I know, I know, Shane Battier, for one, can recite what a guy shoots dribbling left vs. going right. Not to discount Shane’s attention to detail, but it doesn’t take deeper analytics to pick up player tendencies; a dose of filmwork can get you to the same place and undoubtedly reveal a few tells or flaws that the data can’t. So add a fourth belief: that unless you integrate all the data correctly, the eye of someone trained to know what to look for – and what not to be fooled by – is still probably more accurate.”

Bob. I was in those crowds (and I use the term loosely) with you. Truly love Bernard. Was there for Bernard’s first game back (and it was not a sellout, to the shame of those who were not there. Cue the Band of Brothers monologue).

So, I do not take comparisons of ‘Melo to Bernard lightly. I think that they are apt. ‘Melo is a getting that nasty streak where he just will not be denied. Bernard did not have ‘Melo’s range from 3. ‘Melo does not have the same tenacity at finishing above the rim. But both are scary good at creating space in the mid-post.

Can you guys even imagine how many comments each game thread would have if Josh Smith were on this team? Seems like you could pretty much guarantee victory against the Hawks just by playing off him and daring him to shoot 19 footers. And that guy wants a max contract? 0-7 from the FT line? I think he will be sorely disappointed this summer when he goes shopping for a big deal.

Re: Tyson — dude needs to sit for however long it takes for him to be 100%. While I think having homecourt in the 2nd round would be important against Chicago, we have zero chance of making any real noise in the playoffs unless he plays way better than he’s played the last 2 nights. And Woodson needs to be the adult here — I know Tyson’s a veteran who is supposed to know what the priority is here (playoffs), but Woodson should just take it out of his hands. Or the doctors should.

I know we’re a high-minded, statistically driven community. And there are far more concrete things to point to during this awesome streak. But I like to believe that night in Utah when Kurt Thomas essentially pulled down his pants and showed his manhood to his slacking teammates has a lot to do with our recent turnaround. If it did nothing for the actual Knick players, it did a lot for at least one distraught Knicks fan. If anything comes of this season, I will remember that Utah game the way I remember the Kings game after Riley took the team to Reno (also after a 4 game losing streak on a west coast trip, incidentally). Bless you, Kurt Thomas.

Hubert Davis:
I know we’re a high-minded, statistically driven community.And there are far more concrete things to point to during this awesome streak.But I like to believe that night in Utah when Kurt Thomas essentially pulled down his pants and showed his manhood to his slacking teammates has a lot to do with our recent turnaround.If it did nothing for the actual Knick players, it did a lot for at least one distraught Knicks fan.If anything comes of this season, I will remember that Utah game the way I remember the Kings game after Riley took the team to Reno (also after a 4 game losing streak on a west coast trip, incidentally).Bless you, Kurt Thomas.

+1
no doubt we were hemorrhaging confidence on that west coast trip, and Kurt willing us to victory that game was HUGE. Haven’t lost since.

Re: Bernard, I still need to see Melo do something akin to King’s performance in the 84 playoffs before I put him on that plane. That was some legendary shit, and as impressive as what Melo has done it is still a level away from single handedly knocking off a tough Pistons team on the road and taking one of the greatest teams of all time to 7 games.

Remember Melo’s magical night in Boston, game 2 of the 2011 playoffs? And his game 4 performance against the Heat last year? King’s 84 run was basically that for an entire month.

Melo would have to knock off Indiana in game 7 on the road – at MSG would suffice, as well! ;) – and force the Heat to a 7th game to approach what King did that year. I’m not saying he can’t (I hope he does!), and this is no knock on Melo. I f’n love what this man is doing right now. But man, if you want to talk Bernard King, he did it with some of the best teams in the history of basketball absolutely keyed in on stopping him, in the playoffs, for two solid rounds.

Melo hasn’t shown me he can do that yet (on the Knicks, RuRu, on the Knicks), and I personally will not invoke the King’s name until I see that.

Hubert Davis:
I know we’re a high-minded, statistically driven community.And there are far more concrete things to point to during this awesome streak.But I like to believe that night in Utah when Kurt Thomas essentially pulled down his pants and showed his manhood to his slacking teammates has a lot to do with our recent turnaround.If it did nothing for the actual Knick players, it did a lot for at least one distraught Knicks fan.If anything comes of this season, I will remember that Utah game the way I remember the Kings game after Riley took the team to Reno (also after a 4 game losing streak on a west coast trip, incidentally).Bless you, Kurt Thomas.

I had a strong feeling after that Utah game that we would look back and say that it was the turning point of the season (of course it helped that we had a fairly soft schedule immediately after) The whole mindset seemed to change, and they’ve been a different team since. And it was all because a 40 year old guy willed himself to one epic performance and then shut down. Can’t make that stuff up.

Re: Tyson — dude needs to sit for however long it takes for him to be 100%.

Absolutely which makes the Camby situation all the more puzzling. I get that Woodson’s being very cautious and feels that it won’t take long for Camby to be ready given the nature of his game. But this is starting to cut it really close. I wondered what kind of production we could expect out of Camby at his age and my mind drifted to any similar players. How about Mutombo? Here’s a few encouraging stats:

Mutombo 34,787 total minutes played before season he turned 39 while Camby has only played 28,684 to date.
Mutombo -> 39yo -> minutes(955) -> WS/48(.156) versus career WS/48 of .153
Mutombo -> 40yo -> minutes(1289) -> WS/48(.192) versus career WS/48 of .153
His rebounding rate during those two seasons was comparable to his career average though his shot blocking dropped.

I’m realy not too worried about Kenyon s long as we limit him to 20-25 minutes which should be much easier to manage with Chandler. That being said if Chandler needs to sit out a little longer, which is what it looked like, that can not affect Kenyon’s minutes load. If that means we have to play Cope at the 5 for longer stretches, than so be it, but the team’s health come postseason is paramount.

We realistically need 3 more wins to clinch the division. Yes, it would be great to get the 2 seed and have home court in a potential 2nd round series against Indiana while avoiding Chicago. That’s not going to matter if come playoff time Kenyon’s hobbling around because of being overused and Tyson’s out because he rushed back a little with a bulging disk.

Hubert Davis: I know we’re a high-minded, statistically driven community. And there are far more concrete things to point to during this awesome streak. But I like to believe that night in Utah when Kurt Thomas essentially pulled down his pants and showed his manhood to his slacking teammates has a lot to do with our recent turnaround. If it did nothing for the actual Knick players, it did a lot for at least one distraught Knicks fan. If anything comes of this season, I will remember that Utah game the way I remember the Kings game after Riley took the team to Reno (also after a 4 game losing streak on a west coast trip, incidentally). Bless you, Kurt Thomas.

j/k. I really am crossing my fingers that our bucket of bolts stay healthy enough to will our way through the playoffs, but I still don’t see it happening. Cope at the 5 for extended stretches is scary, and not in a good way.

j/k.I really am crossing my fingers that our bucket of bolts stay healthy enough to will our way through the playoffs, but I still don’t see it happening.Cope at the 5 for extended stretches is scary, and not in a good way.

Lavor Postell is not a slave to any any trollops.

chrisk06811:
Are we sure that’s what kenyon means when he says the torch is lit?

Zanzibar: Absolutely which makes the Camby situation all the more puzzling. I get that Woodson’s being very cautious and feels that it won’t take long for Camby to be ready given the nature of his game. But this is starting to cut it really close. I wondered what kind of production we could expect out of Camby at his age and my mind drifted to any similar players. How about Mutombo? Here’s a few encouraging stats:

Mutombo 34,787 total minutes played before season he turned 39 while Camby has only played 28,684 to date.
Mutombo -> 39yo -> minutes(955) -> WS/48(.156) versus career WS/48 of .153
Mutombo -> 40yo -> minutes(1289) -> WS/48(.192) versus career WS/48 of .153
His rebounding rate during those two seasons was comparable to his career average though his shot blocking dropped.

Camby’s only played 250 minutes this season so far.

In 2009, Mutombo’s last season (as well as the last time Yao Ming was healthy), he barely played but every single time he came into the game you could instantly feel he was dependable. I actually remember in the playoffs that season that Greg Oden (Remember him? He actually played in a playoff series and averaged about as many points as fouls) injured Dikembe and I felt that was a huge blow to the Rockets playoff hopes (that’s before Chuck Hayes came in and showed how motherfucking awesome he was)

If Camby is healthy in the playoffs, it won’t matter that he didn’t play, he’ll provide solid rebounding and defense for 10-15 minutes a night. If he has to play more than that, this team isn’t going anywhere anyways.

d-mar:And it was all because a 40 year old guy willed himself to one epic performance and then shut down. Can’t make that stuff up.

The man knew he was injured and instead of going to get it tested to learn the extent of the injury he played through it under the logic that “one more game can’t hurt”. Might be the final act of his career. F’ing legend if you ask me.

Those Bernard King games were great. I remember them like yesterday. And the headlock at the end is from the now departed Ray Williams.

Melo does remind me of BK. He also reminds me of Eli Manning. Some inconsistency. People tend to dismiss him in discussions of elite players, but, he has a certain toughness. Thanks Knicks, I believe again. Maybe we can do this.